Irrigation industry "struggles" to cope with flooding

Day River Irrigation Development Investment Company Limited operates a pumping station to drain water and prevent flooding.

Half a month without rest

For more than 2 weeks, Vinh Phuc pumping station (Quoc Oai district) has never stopped operating. 6 pumping units at the station are continuously operated by staff and workers to drain water in the fields, protecting the Summer-Autumn rice fields.

Nguyen Quang Minh, head of Vinh Phuc pumping station, said that since July 16, when there was information about the upcoming heavy rains, the unit had proactively operated pumps to drain buffer water from the fields. Currently, the water level in many rice-growing areas in communes along the Tich River has receded.

During the ongoing rains, Chuong My district is the most heavily affected locality in terms of total flooded agricultural area. Currently, the Chuong My District Irrigation Development Investment Enterprise is “stretching” to prevent flooding for hundreds of hectares of rice fields in the Summer-Autumn crop that are still submerged.

Director of the Chuong My District Irrigation Development Investment Enterprise, Do Viet Dung, said that in recent days, dozens of officers and employees of the irrigation clusters have continued to be on duty 24/7 as assigned, focusing on maximizing the operation of the pumping units to drain water from the fields.

In the process of flood prevention, officers and workers of pumping stations also face many challenges. The pumping station system was built 50-60 years ago, and many items are now degraded. Although many items were repaired before this year's flood season, their operating capacity is very limited.

In particular, in the context of the water levels of all rivers rising above the alarm level in recent days, the drainage of the pumping station system has encountered many difficulties. Some pumping stations have even been flooded due to the rapid rise in river water levels. Officials and workers have had to move machinery to higher ground to protect state assets.

Workers collect trash to create a drainage flow to prevent flooding at An Vong Pumping Station (Chuong My district).

Risk of flooding continues

According to Tran Thanh Man, Deputy Head of the Hanoi Department of Irrigation and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, due to the impact of heavy rain, at one point, more than 11,000 hectares of 2024 Summer-Autumn rice crop in the city were flooded. That is not to mention thousands of hectares of vegetables, fruit trees, and aquaculture areas affected in low-lying areas...

However, up to now, with the proactiveness and positivity of irrigation enterprises, most of the agricultural production areas in the riverside districts are no longer flooded. Currently, the remaining areas that have not been drained are mainly rice fields in the districts of Chuong My, Thanh Oai, Quoc Oai, etc.

Notably, in August and September 2024, the Northern Delta and Midlands are expected to continue to experience widespread and prolonged heavy rains. The risk of flooding is forecast to continue, with more seriousness, if localities in Hanoi do not proactively respond.

Head of Water and Construction Management Department (Day River Irrigation Development Investment Company Limited) Tran Anh Tuan said that when there is information about a prolonged heavy rain, the unit will immediately direct irrigation enterprises to operate pumping units early to drain buffer water; not to accumulate water in fields and drainage canal systems.

“Currently, the company is still directing its affiliated irrigation enterprises to focus on operating 100% of the pumping stations’ capacity to drain water and prevent flooding in the fields. In addition, it is maintaining 24/7 on-call duty, closely monitoring weather and flood developments to have appropriate response measures…” - Mr. Tran Anh Tuan added.

To proactively respond to the risk of flooding in the remaining months of the 2024 flood season, the Hanoi Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is coordinating with irrigation enterprises and localities to continue implementing the direction of the Department of Irrigation (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development) in Document No. 1084/TL-VHTT on strengthening solutions to prevent and combat flooding and inundation to protect agricultural production in the Red River Delta.

The Steering Committee for Natural Disaster Prevention, Control and Search and Rescue of the City and the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hanoi have also issued many documents, continuing to request departments, branches and localities to absolutely not be subjective or negligent in leadership and direction. At the same time, proactively develop plans to respond to natural disasters, including flooding, to minimize damage to people and property.

 

According to the assessment of the Hydrometeorological Station of the Northern Delta and Midlands , in August and September 2024, Hanoi is likely to be affected by 1-3 large-scale heavy rains; in which, the total rainfall in August is from 250 - 370mm and in September is 150 - 290mm. The total rainfall in the suburban areas will be greater than in the inner city areas.

Source: https://kinhtedothi.vn/ha-noi-nganh-thuy-loi-cang-minh-ung-pho-ung-ngap.html